Everyone
startled as the weapon in Sutter's hand made a peculiar sound. At
the same instant, a bright yellow light on the far wall began pulsing
on and off, and the silence was shattered by the blaring, punctuated
bursts of some sort of alarm. The lights came on. The door behind
Jack and the others opened. And there stood a figure whose presence
caused Sutter's and Holcomb's mouths to drop open in shock.

'You
know who I am, then,' the man said, stepping forward. He extricated
the weapon from Sutter's grasp and tossed it to someone standing in
the doorway. 'I'm told these things can be switched off, if
they're within range of the ship. Good thing, too, if you ask me.'

'I
am exactly who I appear to be,' the man said, glaring down into
Holcomb's eyes. He was a good half-a-head taller than either
Holcomb or Sutter. 'And if you so much as put your hand on that
soldier's gun, you'll find yourself living in a ten-by-six cell
for a very long time.'

'But
. . . how?' Sutter choked in thwarted malice. 'And how did
you get in here?'

The
man smiled, and gestured to a small form standing framed in the door,
who stepped forward and joined him.

Jack,
Mike, Arley and the others stared.

'You!'
Jack blurted, unable not to smile. 'I remember you! We thought you
were dead! You must be Mialla, Yelina and Kiko's friend.'

'There
were three ejected from the ship when it crashed,' the man said.
'All three were a bit bruised and battered, but no one was killed.'

'But-
the bodies!' Holcomb spluttered.

'There
were no bodies,' the man told him. 'That was just a diversion, to
keep all of you preoccupied while my office and I got things sorted
out.'

'Yeah,
but, who are you?' Carly asked, innocently.

After
a moment's throat-clearing, Arley told her. 'This man is the
Prime Minister. Of Canada.'

Carly
gaped and went very red, her mouth a silent, "Oh."

The
Prime Minister glared at Holcomb and Sutter and shook his head. 'What
a pair of creeps! I should have you both locked up for good!' He
turned to Jack. 'You're here about the little one, aren't you.'
It was a statement.

'Is
she still alive?'

The
Prime Minister considered Jack a long moment. 'I'm not going to
lie to you; she's not in very good shape. The doctors here tell me
it's not the injuries she received in the crash. The physical
injuries they can fix, up to a point. It's the emotional injury
done to her . . . she won't hang on unless something is done about
that, and soon.'

'Her
mother?' Jack said, dreading the answer.

'Dead,'
the Prime Minister told him very quietly. 'She died in the crash.
I'm very sorry.'

Yelina
opened her eyes, and looked at Jack in wonder. 'Are you crying?'

'Of
course I am!' he choked. 'You're the most important
thing to me in the whole wide world!' He lost it then. 'Oh,
Yelina! I can't lose you!'

Tears
welled in the little blonde girl's eyes. 'You still want me?
After I stole the car, and . . . everything?'

'I
don't care about the damned car!' he choked. 'I only care about
you. I just want you to get better, and come home!'

She
stared, as though she'd never heard the word before. 'Home?'

'Yes,
home!' he told her. 'Home, with Arley for a mom, and me for a
dad, and Carly for a sister and Jason for a brother!'

'And
Boom-Boom Kitty!' Carly blurted impatiently, pushing through them
to the side of the bed.

'You
brought my kitty!'

''Course
I brought him! He's been sitting in the front window every day and
all night, waiting for you to come home!'

She
was too weak to sit up, but Arley helped her into a sitting position
so she could hold Boom-Boom Kitty.

'We've
got some more surprises for you,' the Prime Minister told her with
a broad smile.

'Mialla!'

The
missing girl went to her and the two embraced. And then, Yelina
blurted, 'Grapes!'

'Oh-my-God!'
Jack and Mike blurted together.

'None
other!' Don Cherry said with a broad smile. 'They told me you
weren't doin' too good, so I thought I'd better come an' see
you. Actually,' he said, giving Yelina a big wink, 'I wuz just
foolin', so's I could get a look at the inside of this ship o'
yours!'

'I
got your picture, an' your posters, an' everything!'

'We-ll,'
he drawled, 'an' now I want something in return!'

'What's
that?' she asked suspiciously, seeing the humorous glint in his
eye.

'I
want you to get better,' he said, becoming serious. 'Look, kiddo,
you might not know it, but millions of kids are depending on you.
They look up to you, you know. You're famous, now, and when you're
famous, well, that comes with a lot of responsibility. With kids,
it's "monkey-see, monkey-do".' He sighed, sat on the side of
her bed, and for a moment he suddenly looked very old. Old and tired.
'I know what it's like. I know what it's like to lose someone
you love very much. And I know what it feels like when they're
suddenly gone, and all of a sudden, nothing feels right any more . .
. and it feels like nothing's ever going to be all right, ever
again.' He smiled, then, a boyish smile that made him suddenly look
young again. 'But kid, when you got people who love you, who stay
up at night worrying about you, and who die a thousand times when
they think you've been hurt . . . honey, when you got that, as bad
as you've been hurt, you're going to get through it. And when
you're surrounded by friends, friends who see you for the person
you really are, and who see past all your faults, why . . . then,
you're the luckiest person in the whole wide world!'

'The
time . . .' Holcomb muttered. 'The time is the same as ours . . .
but it says GMT. Greenwich Mean Time . . . I don't understand!'

'This
ship was towed into a Time Portal at 10:13 AM, Greenwich Mean Time,
around thirteen million years in the future. By some miscalculation,
the times were identical, but the location around the planet wasn't.
The clocks, all over this ship, are set to Greenwich Mean Time as it
will be around thirteen million years from now.'

'But-
but that means-'

'It
means that these people are not only not aliens,' the Prime
Minister told them, 'but they are our future. Doubly so, because
the earth was destroyed in a collision with a rogue planet from
another solar system, shortly after they entered the Time Portal.'

Seeing
their crestfallen looks, Satu approached the two and said, 'In
thirteen million years, we didn't even make it to the stars. Oh, we
sent out a number of probes, some of which lasted the hundreds of
years it took to get to their destinations . . . but no human being,
I'm afraid, will ever set foot on another world circling another
star. Science has limitations. The inability to surpass the speed of
light is one of them.

'But,'
she added pointedly, 'in thirteen million years, a rogue planet
will collide with Earth. We didn't have time enough, after this
body was discovered hurtling towards the Earth, to save ourselves.
But you, gentlemen . . . you have all the time in the world, if you
put your minds to it.'

Sutter
and Holcomb exchanged a long look, and said nothing for several long
minutes. At last, Holcomb broke the silence.

'Well,
I guess any technology you have will come in handy after all- as a
starting point. That is, if you'll have us.'

Sutter
sighed, deeply, and said very quietly and sadly, 'You must think me
something of a monster.'

'I
think,' Satu told him thoughtfully, 'that you're a man who
needs some sort of mission in life, and that you chose badly.' She
shrugged. 'But I don't think that any man who can feel regret is
a bad man at heart. I won't hold it against you.'

-

Crying
tears of happiness as she held Boom-Boom Kitty and waved at the
camera and heard the roar go up from the crowd in response, Yelina
said into the microphone Carly held for her, 'Oh, wow! This has got
to be the best day of my life! I lost my mom, and I thought my life
was over . . . by I got a mom again, and a dad, and a house to live
in, and a brother and a sister and all my friends, and Boom-Boom
Kitty-' a roar went up from the crowd as she held up Boom-Boom
Kitty for the camera. 'An' I've got all of you! You're my
friends, too . . . each and every one of you!'

She
became quiet and thoughtful then. 'And my friend Grapes is here,
and the Prime Minister . . . and . . . and I learned something very
important:

'I
learned that there's a dark place we can all fall into, that's
just waiting to get each and every one of us. But I've learned . .
. that things can be very confusing, and that sometimes, when you
listen to your heart . . . there are times when your heart can be
wrong . . . when it can tell you to go to that dark place, instead of
to the light.

'I
read somewhere that without the dark, there can be no light, and
maybe that's true . . . but I've learned that the dark is not a
good place to be . . . that there's nothing there . . . no friends,
no family, no people who care about you, no . . . people . . . that
you love more than anything else in the whole wide world.

'So
. . . all I can say, is . . . go to the light . . . always go to the
light. I know that's where I'll be from now on.'

Jack
and Arley could see that she was becoming sleepy. They tucked her
into bed, and sat with her as she drifted off, a half-smile on her
lips. Meanwhile, Boom-Boom Kitty thundered to life.

And
then, they began to sing-

"Come
fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

Come
fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

What
new worlds of wonders, do you think we'll see?

How
far will you trust me? Will you come with me-e-e-e?"

"Come
fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

Come
fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

Place
your hand in my hand, I won't let you fall!

Lets
fly through the Heavens, let's answer the call!"

"Let's
ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

Let's
ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

To
the stars! To the heavens and back,

See
the stars? See the galaxy spinning,

Spinning
on its track, oh,

What
do you see-e-e-e?

What
do you see-e-e-e?

How
do you fe-el?

Is
it all real? Oh,

Let's
ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

Let's
ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

"Come
fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

Come
fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

The
new worlds of wonders, do you realise?

The
new worlds of wonders, are stars in your eyes!"

"Come
fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

Come
fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

We'll
both go together, we'll go, you and I!

We'll
fly through the Heavens! We'll fly through the sky!"

"Let's
ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

Let's
ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

To
the stars! To Heaven and beyond!

See
the stars? See the Great Beyond? Oh,

What
do you see-e-e-e?

What
do you see-e-e-e?

How
do you feel?

Is
this for real? Oh,

Let's
ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

Let's
ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!"

"Come
fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e-e-e!

Come
fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e-e-e!

With
me-e-e-e-e-e!

With
me-e-e-e-e-e!

With
me-e-e-e-e-e!"

Here
ends Boom-Boom Kitty

.
. . maybe

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